6/25, 985th year of the new millennium

I wake up, thirsty.

I feel around for the cup of water I always keep by my bedside.

A tattered book. Varnished wood. A metal cup. Finally.

Grabbing the cup, I move it to my lips, but no liquid came into my mouth. I guess it’s time to get my ass up.

It’s been over a year since I started living with Brandt and his wife, Marla, and I still haven’t quite moved on from the past. The gruesome scene of my sister still comes back to me in my nightmares, reminding me that the people who killed Jade are out there, alive and kicking, perhaps even committing the same crimes.

Raze was acknowledged for his skill and recruited into the imperial army, while Percy and Gale became the new town guards.

No one knows the truth but me.

Regrettably, even though Percy and Gale are dumbasses, I’m still not strong enough to kill them.

I breathe in deep and stretch, before going downstairs to get something to drink.

***

Being adopted by Brandt and Marla was probably the best thing that happened to me in the years following my biological parents’ deaths. I never go hungry anymore, with a guaranteed three meals a day comprising of breakfast with a side of bread, lunch with a side of bread, and dinner with a side of bread and bread as dessert. All jokes aside, I’m incredibly grateful because of everything I’ve learned from them.

Brandt was once a captain of the imperial army until he took an arrow in the knee. His knee recovered but he never moved the same after that. Marla was a “schoolteacher” that escaped the capital because she bitch-slapped a mafia member to death. And no, that wasn’t a joke. Under their tutelage, I learned the sacred training method of the imperial army, as well as reading and writing.

In this world, There are two ways to get stronger: developing your internal power by making your mana pool larger or strengthening your external power by increasing body strength.

Mana refers to the energy particles humans can take in from their surroundings when they have a mana pool and can be used for spells or imbued into weapons or a person’s body to make them stronger. It’s very flexible and is the most popular way to get stronger, as it looks impressive.

The problem with mana, however, is that it’s not a guarantee. The only way to increase your mana pool is by absorbing raw mana from monster cores to forcibly make it bigger, which creates two major issues. Firstly, monster cores are extremely expensive as it’s hard to properly dismantle monsters without harming the cores, and it is also difficult to preserve them. Secondly, the probability of successfully absorbing monster cores is very low, and it varies by person, depending on how lucky they are at birth. It also becomes harder to absorb raw mana, the more you have. As such, mana users like mages and magic knights are usually descendants of rich families, since they can buy as many cores as they fucking want.

External power, on the other hand, is the poor man’s way to get strong. It’s very painful and not many people want to do it, but it requires nothing but constantly training your body. Even the way strength is ranked is only by physical ability. There’s really not much to say about it.

Ideally, a smart individual will get strong enough physically to take care of monsters for monster cores, but most people are too shortsighted and focus on only one way to gain power.

Since there is no way for me to get monster cores, I decided to adhere to Brandt’s beginner imperial course: 100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups, 100 squats, and a 10-kilometer run every day. I also repeatedly practice punching and kicking, all while wearing weights, and I have to say, I made a lot of progress in the last year and a half. Soon, I’ll be taking the test to become a rank one warrior.

Right now, though, I’m getting my ass whooped by Brandt.

“What’s the point of getting stronger when you flail your fists at your enemies!”

Brandt rushes in and strikes my midsection, knocking the breath out of me.

“Ack- fuck!”

“Watch your language!” Brandt slapped me upside my face and I tumble to the floor, dazed.

I wheeze for breath, curling in a fetal position.

I hate this.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

***

After being beaten up, it’s finally time for lunch. Now is the time for my next dreaded moment of the day. Lunch is when Marla trains my poison resistance, and I’ll be honest, despite how much kinder Marla looks in comparison to Brandt, she’s the one I’m the most scared of.

“Lykos! You must be hungry after training!”

“N-no, I’m fine”

“Nonsense. A growing boy like you must eat lots!”

Marla brings out a bowl of stew and bread, smiling brightly.

The food looks absolutely delicious, but I know that once I start eating, I’ll immediately get fucked by the poison.

“Tell me if it tastes good okay?”

Ah… How could such an angel-like lady be so evil? I’m afraid that if I ever say it doesn’t taste good, she’ll increase the dosage or make me ingest poison every meal instead of only lunch.

“Eat up!”

Fuck.

***

By the time I wake up on my bed, it’s dark outside. My stomach is grumbling since I wasn’t able to finish my meal, and my body feels like it’s on fire.

I sigh and get up. I need to get some food.

Getting to my feet, I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror. My once messy and thick hair is now well-trimmed and neat, and while I don’t have bulging muscles, I do have a nice muscle definition.

I’m almost ready.

Heading to the kitchen, I am met with a surprise.

“Happy Birthday!”

Brandt and Marla hug me, then presents my birthday celebration. There’s a cake on our dining table, a box next to the cake, and a lot of meat, presumably for dinner.

Without even paying attention to anything else, I rush to the meat and get ready to eat.

“May I eat?” Obviously, I need to have manners.

Marla and Barndt look at my begging expression and gesture for me to start eating.

***

After absolutely destroying the meat and the cake, we move on to the box. It’s a medium-sized box, the size of an adult’s fist. What can even fit in the box? I would be happy with anything, but I don’t expect much since it’s hard to make a living in Zorn, outside of the capital.

“Open it,” Brandt says.

I obey, and inside, I find a monster core.

“H-how?” I was shocked and confused. Even the lowest-grade monster core would cost one hundred gold, which is fifty times what our bakery made in a year. There is no conceivable way for Brandt and Marla to save up that much.

Seeing how flabbergasted I am, Brandt lets out a full-bellied laugh.

“Pft, that’s a new expression I’ve never seen you make.”

“How did you afford it? Did you sell the bakery?”

“No, dumbass, it’s something I got while in the imperial army. Wanted to keep it for emergency funds or give it to my child” Brandt stops laughing and gets serious. “This is the core of a Fenrir, an A-rank monster.”

“Then that means-”

“Yes, this is a high-grade core.”

I look at the core, then look back at Brandt, then back at the core. He’s not shitting me, is he?

“Before you absorb the core, I’ll explain more about mana that we haven’t taught you yet.” Brandt clears his throat, ready to go full lecture mode. “Mana is split into ten ranks, or circles, depending on how much mana your mana pool can hold.”

I nod vigorously. This much I know.

“Now one thing you don’t know, is that there are actually classifications of how much mana you need to rank up, as well as how much mana each core grade can give.” Brandt scratches his head, thinking. “There are four grades to monster cores. Low, medium, high, and mythical grades. The low grade gives one mana point when absorbed successfully, which correlates to how many energy particles you can take in from your environment. Medium gives five, high gives ten, and mythical gives one hundred. To achieve rank one, you only need ten mana points, whereas you need two hundred for rank two.”

“Why?”

“The difference between these two ranks is immense. This is the biggest obstacle that most mana users have to overcome, as rank one indicates that you can use mana, whereas rank two signifies that you can use spells. After rank two, every rank needs an increase of one hundred mana points.”

“Wait, what?” This is all news to me. No one else in this small town of Solnier has this knowledge, so obviously I’m very shaken by this new revelation.

“Next, we need to talk about the high and mythical grade cores. These cores have a chance to pass on an attribute or skill of the monster it’s from. Mythical grade cores are guaranteed to pass down an attribute or skill, and high grade has around a fifty percent chance when the absorption is successful.”

I am now beginning to understand. Since I haven’t even reached rank one, it is currently the best chance for me to absorb a core, which also means I have the highest probability to take in the skill right now. Furthermore, if I could successfully absorb the raw mana inside the high-grade core, I’ll immediately shoot up to rank one, allowing me to start using mana.

Understanding my foster parents’ intentions, I feel myself tearing up. I’m truly lucky.

“Okay, no crying! You’re a big boy now!” Marla interjects, pushing the box closer to me.

I smile and place my hand on the monster core.

Immediately, I feel a rush of heat enters my body.

“Concentrate!” Brandt shouted.

I wince in pain, my eyes rolling into the back of my head.